Mechanical cleaving (exfoliation), chemical exfoliation, chemical synthesis, and thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis are commonly used methods for graphene synthesis. Currently, the most successful route to synthesizing graphene is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Thermal CVD is typically applied to graphene formation over transition metals, including copper, nickel, iridium, and ruthenium. Thermal CVD techniques can also be used for graphene synthesis over dielectrics, and various other oxides. The CVD graphene process is limited to the use of gaseous raw materials, making it difficult to apply the technology to a wider variety of potential carbon precursors, especially solid carbon resources.
The challenges of sustainable development have driven people to find facile, environmental friendly ways to produce carbon-based nanomaterials. Biomass presents an abundant and low-cost source of carbon. However, there have been limited studies on the use of wood or agricultural biomass as the carbon source for the production of graphene-based materials.